Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and computer program product

ABSTRACT

An information processing apparatus that calculates importance of data based on a print log. A print-log database stores therein a print log of data printed. A calculating unit refers to the print log to check the number of times of printing the data, and calculates importance of the data based on the number of times of printing. A storing unit stores the importance of the data in an importance database.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present document incorporates by reference the entire contents ofJapanese priority documents, 2005-288133 filed in Japan on Sep. 30, 2005and 2006-203806 filed in Japan on Jul. 26, 2006.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a technology for calculating importanceof data.

2. Description of the Related Art

There are known technologies for calculating the importance of data.

For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2002-342379discloses a technology for ranking the popularity of documents.According to the conventional technology, in addition to popularityobtained from document usage information based on similarity to a searchkeyword and a reference relation between documents, an expected value offuture popularity is taken into account. Thus, accurate ranking can beachieved regardless of biased information even for a document withlittle information.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2001-290843 discloses adocument retrieval device that searches for document data from adocument data group having a link relation. The document retrievaldevice weights the link relation, imparts link importance to thedocument data, and accesses the document data based on the linkimportance.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-271653 discloses atechnology in which documents in data are stored in association with anindex indicating importance thereof. The documents are displayed in alist in order of the importance upon receipt of a request from a user.The importance of a document is increased when the document isrequested, while the importance is reduced as the document is leftunrequested.

However, in the technology disclosed in Japanese Patent ApplicationLaid-open No. 2002-342379, only the document usage information is used,and therefore, it is not clear that the reader of the document hasconsidered the document is useful after reading it.

With the document retrieval device disclosed in Japanese PatentApplication Laid-open No. 2001-290843, the importance is determinedbased on the link relation. Therefore, the document retrieval devicecannot be applied to a group of documents without links, i.e., those notlinked to one another, such as documents referred to only within anoffice.

According to the technology disclosed in Japanese Patent ApplicationLaid-open No. 2003-271653, only information on browse is used tocalculate importance of a document. Therefore, it cannot be determinedwhether the reader has considered the document is important.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to at least partially solve theproblems in the conventional technology.

According to an aspect of the present invention, an informationprocessing apparatus includes a print-log database that stores therein aprint log of data printed, a calculating unit that refers to the printlog to check number of times of printing the data and calculatesimportance of the data based on the number of times of printing, and astoring unit that stores the importance of the data in an importancedatabase.

According to another aspect of the present invention, an informationprocessing method includes referring to a print log of data printed tocheck number of times of printing the data, calculating importance ofthe data based on the number of times of printing the data, and storingthe importance of the data.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, a computerprogram product includes a computer program that implements the abovemethods on a computer.

The above and other objects, features, advantages and technical andindustrial significance of this invention will be better understood byreading the following detailed description of presently preferredembodiments of the invention, when considered in connection with theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a data importance calculating systemaccording to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an example of contents of a print-log database shown in FIG.1;

FIG. 3 is an example of contents of a view-log database shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an importance updating process for alldocuments according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a table that indicates importance of documents obtained fromview logs shown in FIG. 3 and print logs shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a document search process according to thefirst embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a data importance calculating systemaccording to a modification of the first embodiment; and

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a data importance calculating systemaccording to a second embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention are described in detailbelow with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a data importance calculating systemaccording to a first embodiment of the present invention.

The data importance calculating system includes a print server 8, asearch server 9, a management server 10, a printer 11, and a userpersonal computer (PC) 12, which are connected to a network such as theInternet.

The user PC 12 is connected to the print server 8, the search server 9,and the management server 10 according to the operation of the user. Thesearch server 9 is connected to the print server 8 and the managementserver 10. The print server 8 is connected to the printer 11.

The user PC 12 is a general computer, and includes a controlling unit(not shown) that performs various operations and controls, an input unit(not shown) through which a user inputs information, a display unit (notshown) that displays information, and a storage unit (not shown) thatstores various types of information. The storage unit stores therein anapplication, such as a web browser, that allows services from the searchserver 9 to be available.

The search server 9 provides a service of searching for or retrievingdata such as document data in response to a search request with akeyword or a natural-language sentence input to the user PC 12 as aclient. The configuration of the search server 9 is explained later.

The management server 10 manages data such as document data, and, inresponse to a request from the user PC 12, provides services includingdata registration, update and deletion, user management, and dataviewing or browsing. The configuration of the management server 10 isexplained later.

The print server 8 controls printing at the printer 11 based on a printinstruction from the user PC 12. The print server 8 includes a print-logdatabase 3 that stores therein print job history (print logs) for theprinter 11. The print-log database 3 is stored in a storage medium, suchas a hard disk drive (HDD) or memory.

FIG. 2 is an example of contents of the print-log database 3. Theprint-log database 3 stores therein an identifier (ID) of printed data,print date, printed page, and print options. The print options are itemsfor setting print conditions specified for printing. The printconditions include, for example, color or monochrome, layout such asnormal or intensive printing, and single-sided or double-sided printing.In addition, one or more pages to be printed, the paper size, etc. canbe specified by the items.

When the user operates the user PC 12 to search for a document the userdesires to read, the user PC 12 is connected to the search server 9. Thesearch server 9 connects to the management server 10 in response to asearch request from the user via the user PC 12 to search for thedocument using any search method. The search server 9 then connects tothe print servers 8 and the management server 10 to calculate importance(explained later) of documents contained in search results, and thensends the search results to the user PC 12. Based on the search resultsfrom the search server 9, the user operates the user PC 12 to connect tothe management server 10, and accesses the document managed by themanagement server 10, thereby viewing the document. The user can operatethe user PC 12 to issue a print instruction to the print server 8 toprint the document.

The management server 10 includes a metadata generating unit 2, ametadata database 5, a view-log database 6, a database 7, and a managingunit 14.

The database 7 stores therein data such as document data. Documents canbe written in a format to include a hyperlink, such as hypertext MarkupLanguage (HTML). The first embodiment, however, is explained on theassumption that documents are written in plain text, such as theses orreports, without including a hyperlink or the like. The database 7 alsostores therein information such as data creation date and data updatedate.

The metadata database 5 stores therein metadata to which information ondata is written, and is stored in a recording medium such as HDD ormemory.

The metadata generating unit 2 generates metadata corresponding to dataupon registration of the data in the database 7, so that the metadatadatabase 5 stores therein the generated metadata.

The view-log database 6 stores therein view history (view logs) of datastored in the database 7, and is stored in a recording medium such asHDD or memory. FIG. 3 is an example of contents of the view-log database6. The view-log database 6 stores therein ID of viewed data, view date,viewed page, and a period of time of viewing data (view time).

The managing unit 14 performs data registration, update and deletion onthe database 7, user management, and registration and update of a viewlog on the view-log database 6.

The search server 9 includes an importance calculating unit 1, animportance storage unit 15, an importance database 4, and a searchingunit 13.

The importance calculating unit 1 calculates, for each data stored inthe database 7, importance based on the view logs stored in the view-logdatabase 6 and the print logs stored in the print-log database 3.

The importance storage unit 15 updates the importance of the data storedin the importance database 4 based on the importance calculated by theimportance calculating unit 1.

In the first embodiment, the importance of data is determined based onintuition because users generally output data on paper when intuitivelyfeeling that the data is important. For example, the user may print dataafter viewing the data. When the user is to print the data, the data canbe of some value to the user. The user may print the data to show it toothers, or the user may print the data to study it or to view it in anoutside location.

For this reason, in the first embodiment, the importance calculatingunit 1 uses not only the view logs but also the print logs to calculatethe importance of data.

The importance calculating unit 1 calculates importance of data, forexample, regularly, when the data is registered in the database 7, whenthe data in the database 7 is updated, when the data is printed, orafter the data is viewed, or several of the above.

For example, when data is first registered in the database 7, no viewlog and print log is present for the data. Therefore, an average valueof importance calculated in advance is given as an initial value of theimportance of the data. When data stored in the database 7 is viewed orprinted, only the importance of the data viewed or printed is updated.Update is regularly performed for all data registered in the database 7or data that have not been recently updated.

A specific method of calculating the importance of data is explained. Inthe first embodiment, the importance of data is calculated based on thenumber of times of viewing data, the number of references or links todata, and an elapsed time from the generation or updating of data asdata importance calculation criteria. The number of times of viewingdata is obtained from the view logs stored in the view-log database 6.The number of references or links to data is obtained by analyzing thedata stored in the database 7. The elapsed time from the generation orupdating of data is obtained based on the data creation date and dataupdate date stored in the database 7.

The importance of a document with a document ID=i (hereinafter,“document i”) is calculated as follows:importance of document i=f ₃ (view log of document i)+f ₄(print log ofdocument i)   (1)

The functions f₄ and f₃ are defined by, for example, Equations (2) to(5). The importance of document i obtained from the view log of documenti (Equation (2)) is a total of importance values obtained fromrespective view logs of document i (Equation (4)). The importance ofdocument i obtained from the print log of document i (Equation (3)) is atotal of importance values obtained from respective print logs ofdocument i (Equation (5)). The importance is lower for older logs, andEquations (4) and (5) are set so that the importance decreases as timeelapses. Incidentally, the items for setting the print conditions in theprint options are given a degree of relation with importance. The degreeof relation is used to represent a print-option importance in Equation(5).f₃=Σf_(3j)   (2)f₄=Σf_(4j)   (3)f _(3j) =k ₃₁ ×e ^(−k) ₃₂ ^(×elapsed time after viewing)×importanceconstant 1+k ₃₃   (4)f _(4j) =k ₄₁ ×e ^(−k) ₄₂ ^(×elapsed time after viewing)×number ofprints×(importance constant 2+print-option importance)+k ₄₃   (5)

Next, the searching unit 13 is explained.

The searching unit 13 searches for data based on data stored in thedatabase 7 or metadata stored in the metadata database 5. An arbitraryalgorithm can be used at the time of searching.

The searching unit 13 sorts search results before sending the searchresults to the user PC 12. To sort the search results, a sort valuerepresenting an arrangement order of data is used. The sort value isgiven to data that satisfies the search condition depending on thesearch method. The search results are sorted in decreasing order of sortvalues. In sorting the search results, data that is more closely relatedto a keyword, etc. used by the user for searching is ranked higher. Forexample, data that contains more keywords input by the user is rankedhigher among the search results.

In the system according to the first embodiment, the sort value iscorrected based on the importance given to data. That is, the sort valueis increased for data with high importance. Therefore, the searchingunit 13 uses importance stored in the importance database 4 to correctthe sort value.

The sort value is given by Equation (6) as follows:sort value=f ₂(f ₁(keyword), importance)   (6)where f₁ (keyword) is a sort value obtained by a keyword in an existingsearch method, and f₂ is an arbitrary function satisfying the followingEquations (7) and (8).

$\begin{matrix}{{\frac{\partial}{\partial{f_{1}({keyword})}}\left( {f_{2}\left( {{f_{1}({keyword})},{importance}} \right)} \right)} > 0} & (7) \\{{\frac{\partial}{{\partial{importance}}\mspace{14mu}{degree}}\left( {f_{\; 2}\left( {{f_{\; 1}({keyword})},{importance}} \right)} \right)} > 0} & (8)\end{matrix}$

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an importance updating process for alldocuments performed by the importance calculating unit 1.

The importance calculating unit 1 clears a page to 0 (step S1), and thenaccesses the view-log database 6 in the management server 10 todetermine whether all view logs have been checked (step S2). If not, adocument ID of a view log j (document i) is determined (step S3). Theimportance of document i is calculated based on Equations (1), (2), and(4) (step S4), and then the importance of document i is updated (stepS5). Then, the page is incremented (step S6).

If all of view logs have been checked, the page is cleared to 0 (stepS7). Then, by accessing the print-log database 3 in the print server 8,the importance calculating unit 1 determines whether all print logs havebeen checked (step S8). If not, a document ID of a print log j (documenti) is determined (step S9). With the print log j, the importance ofdocument i is calculated based on Equations (1), (3), and (5) (stepS10), and the importance of document i is updated (step S11). Then, thepage is incremented (step S12). After the importance calculating unit 1has checked all the print logs, the importance storage unit 15 updatesthe importance of each document stored in the importance database 4.

FIG. 5 is a table that indicates an example of the importance ofdocuments obtained as a result of the above process from the view-logsin FIG. 3 and the print logs in FIG. 2. In this example, a document 005(document ID: 005) with a larger number of prints has importance higherthan that of a document 001 (document ID: 001) with a larger number oftimes of viewing.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a document search process according to thefirst embodiment.

The searching unit 13 of the search server 9 searches, upon receipt of asearch request from the user PC 12, the metadata database 5 or thedatabase 7 for documents that satisfies the search condition (step S21).The sort values of search results are obtained based on Equations (6) to(8) for correction (step S22). Then, the search results are sorted basedon the corrected sort values (step S23). The sorted search results areprovided to the user PC 12.

As explained above, according to the first embodiment, the importance ofdata is calculated based on not only view logs but also print logs.Thus, it is possible to obtain the importance reflecting the user'sfeeling with respect to the importance of data. Based on the importance,search results are sorted, which improves usability for the user.

Next, a modification of the first embodiment is explained.

In the database 7, data with a setting of print authorization can beregistered. For example, data that is available for viewing but not tobe printed can be registered. In this case, the criteria for calculatingthe importance of data can be changed. For example, if data is notallowed to be printed, the importance obtained from printing is notconsidered, and therefore, the importance obtained from view logs isincreased. For example, an importance constant 1 in Equation (4) isincreased, and the importance is increased for data with a longer viewtime as follows:

$\begin{matrix}{f_{3j}^{\prime} = {{k_{31} \times {{\mathbb{e}}^{- k_{32}}}^{\times {elapsed}\mspace{14mu}{time}\mspace{14mu}{after}\mspace{14mu}{viewing}} \times \frac{{viewing}\mspace{14mu}{time}}{{average}\mspace{14mu}{viewing}\mspace{14mu}{time}\mspace{14mu}{per}\mspace{14mu}{page} \times {number}\mspace{14mu}{of}\mspace{14mu}{pages}\mspace{14mu}{viewed}} \times {importance}\mspace{14mu}{constant}\mspace{14mu} 1^{\prime}} + k_{33}}} & (9) \\{{{importance}\mspace{14mu}{constant}\mspace{14mu} 1^{\prime}} > {{importance}\mspace{14mu}{constant}\mspace{14mu} 1}} & (10)\end{matrix}$

Besides, in the database 7, data with a setting of view authorizationcan be registered. For example, data that is accessible to onlyauthorized users can be registered. Also in this case, the criteria forcalculating the importance of data can be changed. For example, whenviewers are restricted, the number of times of viewing data and thenumber of prints are decreased. Therefore, the importance of the data iscorrected according to the number of users allowed to view the data by,for example, the following Equation (11):

$\begin{matrix}{{{importance}\mspace{14mu}{of}\mspace{14mu}{document}\mspace{14mu} i} = {\frac{{number}\mspace{14mu}{of}\mspace{14mu}{users}\mspace{14mu}{using}\mspace{14mu}{document}\mspace{14mu}{management}\mspace{14mu}{server}}{{number}\mspace{14mu}{of}\mspace{14mu}{users}\mspace{14mu}{allowed}\mspace{14mu}{to}\mspace{14mu}{view}\mspace{14mu}{document}\mspace{14mu} i} \times {importance}\mspace{14mu}{of}\mspace{14mu}{document}\mspace{14mu} i}} & (11)\end{matrix}$

Thus, the importance of data can be calculated irrespective ofrestrictions on access to data.

As another modification of the first embodiment, the importance of adocument can be calculated for each page. For example, if viewed pagesin the view log of document i includes page j, or if print pages in theprint log of document i includes page j, the importance of document ifor each page is obtained by the following Equation (12):importance of page j of document i=f ₅ (view log of page j of documenti)+f ₆ (print log of page j of document i)   (12)

The functions f₅ and f₆ are defined by, for example, the followingEquations (13) to (16):f₅=Σf_(5k)   (13)f₆=Σf₆k   (14)f ₅ k=k ₅₁ ×e ^(−k52×elapsed time after viewing)×importance constant 1+k₅₃   (15)f ₆ k= ^(k61×e−k62×elapsed time after viewing)×number ofprints×(importance constant 2+print-option importance)+k ₆₃   (16)

As explained above, a page with the highest importance or a summary ofthat page is presented in addition to search results, which helps theuser understand the gist of a document.

In the first embodiment, the importance calculating unit 1 accumulatesthe number of prints for each data when the importance of the data iscalculated, and uses the total number of prints as the number of timesof printing. However, this embodiment is not so limited. The number ofprints already accumulated for each data can be used as the number oftimes of printing. Also, for example, the frequency of printing per unittime can be calculated for each data as the number of times of printing.

The data importance calculating system is explained above as hardware;however, it can be implemented as software. In other words, a computerprogram can be executed on a computer or a server including each unit torealize the same function as the data importance calculating systemincluding the importance calculating unit 1, the importance storage unit15, the searching unit 13, and the metadata generating unit 2.

Besides, instead of the search server 9, the management server 10 caninclude at least one of the importance calculating unit 1, theimportance storage unit 15, and the importance database 4. The dataimportance calculating system can include another server including atleast one of the importance calculating unit 1, the importance storageunit 15, and the importance database 4. Similarly, the search server 9or another server can include the metadata generating unit 2 or theprint-log database 3.

For example, the data importance calculating system can be configured asshown in FIG. 7. In FIG. 7, the data importance calculating systemfurther includes an information processing server 18. The informationprocessing server 18 includes the importance calculating unit 1 and theimportance storage unit 15. The search server 9 includes the searchingunit 13. The management server 10 includes the importance database 4.

In addition, a print instruction can be sent to the print server 8through the management server 10. That is, the user PC 12 can send aprint instruction to the management server 10, so that the managementserver 10 instructs the print server 8 to perform printing.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a data importance calculating systemaccording to a second embodiment of the present invention. In the secondembodiment, the data importance calculating system is applied to digitalimages (hereinafter, “images”), such as photographs. The data importancecalculating system of the second embodiment is basically similar to thatof the first embodiment; like reference numerals designate like parts,and the same description is not repeated.

The data importance calculating system of the second embodiment includesthe print server 8, an image search server 25, an image managementserver 26, the printer 11, and the user PC 12.

The image management server 26 includes the metadata generating unit 2,the metadata database 5, a view-log database 23, an image database 24,and an image managing unit 28.

The image database 24 stores therein image data, and is stored in astorage medium such as HDD or memory. The metadata database 5 storestherein metadata of images. For example, the metadata is document datain the eXtensible Markup Language (XML) format including a file name,title, creation date, shot place for an image, and the like. Some of themetadata can include a tag representing a feature of an image.

The view-log database 23 stores therein view history (view logs) of animage stored in the image database 24, and is stored in a storage mediumsuch as HDD or memory.

The image managing unit 28 performs image data registration, updatedeletion on the image database 24, user management, and registration andupdate of a view log on the view-log database 23.

The image search server 25 includes a popularity calculating unit 21, apopularity storage unit 29, a popularity database 22, and an imagesearching unit 27.

The popularity database 22 stores therein information on the popularityof an image, and is stored in a storage medium such as HDD or memory.

The popularity calculating unit 21 calculates the popularity of theimage stored in the image database 24 based on the print logs stored inthe print-log database 3 and the view logs stored in the view-logdatabase 23. The popularity can be calculated in basically the samemanner as described previously for the calculation of importance in thefirst embodiment. The time to calculate the popularity is also the sameas described previously for calculating importance in the firstembodiment. An initial value of the popularity of an image is, as in thefirst embodiment, an average value of popularities calculated inadvance.

The popularity storage unit 29 updates the popularity stored in thepopularity database 22 based on the popularity calculated by thepopularity calculating unit 21.

The image searching unit 27 searches for an image stored in the imagedatabase 24 based on the metadata stored in the metadata database 5. Forexample, when the metadata of an image includes a tag representing afeature of that image, the image searching unit 27 performs a keywordsearch based on the tag. Alternatively, the image searching unit 27performs a search using the file name of an image as a key. After theimage search, the image searching unit 27 uses the popularity of theimage stored in the popularity database 22 to sort search results as inthe first embodiment, and sends the sorted search results to the user PC12.

The user can view the search results provided to the user PC 12 aspreview of digital images. To view the digital images, the user operatesthe user PC 12 to connect to the image management server 26, anddownloads the images from the image management server 26 to the user PC12. Consequently, the user can view the images. The user can store animage in HDD or print an image according to user's preferences.

As explained above, the search results are sorted based on popularitycalculated for images. Thus, sorting can be performed while moreeffectively reflecting the popularity of the images.

As a modification of the second embodiment, a document with an imageattached thereto can be a search target. In this case, the imagesearching unit 27 can perform a search based on information written inthe document, and sort search results based on the popularity, stored inthe popularity database 22, corresponding to images included in thesearch results.

With this configuration, even for a document with an image attachedthereto, sorting is performed based on the popularity calculated for theimage. Thus, sorting can be performed while more effectively reflectingthe popularity of the image.

The data importance calculating system is explained above as hardware;however, it can be implemented as software. In other words, a computerprogram can be executed on a computer or a server including each unit torealize the same function as the data importance calculating systemincluding the popularity calculating unit 21, the popularity storageunit 29, and the image searching unit 27.

Besides, the image management server 26, instead of the image searchserver 25, can include at least one of the popularity calculating unit21, the popularity storage unit 29, and the popularity database 22. Thedata importance calculating system can include another server includingat least one of the popularity calculating unit 21, the popularitystorage unit 29, and the popularity database 22.

While the embodiments are described on the assumption that data isdocument or image data, such data is cited merely by way of example andwithout limitation. Data can be tables, computer programs, files,directories and the like.

Although the invention has been described with respect to a specificembodiment for a complete and clear disclosure, the appended claims arenot to be thus limited but are to be construed as embodying allmodifications and alternative constructions that may occur to oneskilled in the art that fairly fall within the basic teaching herein setforth.

1. An information processing apparatus comprising: a print-log databasethat stores therein a print log of data printed; a view-log databasethat stores a view log of data; a calculating unit that refers to theprint log to check a number of times of printing the data and the viewlog to check a time when the data was last updated or generated, andcalculates an importance of the data based on calculation criteriaincluding the number of times of printing and an elapsed time since thedata was last updated or generated; a storing unit that stores theimportance of the data in an importance database; and a searching unitthat searches for data satisfying a search condition input by a user andsorts a plurality of search-result data obtained by the search based onthe search condition input by the user and the importance of the datafor each of the search-result data stored in the importance database,wherein each of the search-result data is assigned with a sort value andthe plurality of search-result data is sorted based on an order of thesort values, and the searching unit adjusts the sort values for thesearch-result data based on the search condition input by the user andthe importance of the data stored in the importance database, and sortsthe search-result data based on the adjusted sort values, wherein theprint log includes a print option setting specified for printing, theprint option setting is assigned a print option importance value, andthe calculating unit calculates the importance of the data using theprint option importance value as part of the calculation criteria. 2.The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein thecalculating unit refers to the print log to check a total number ofprints, and determines the total number of prints as the number of timesof printing.
 3. The information processing apparatus according to claim1, wherein the calculation criteria further includes at least one ofnumber of times of viewing the data, number of references to the data,and number of links to the data.
 4. The information processing apparatusaccording to claim 3, wherein the calculating unit refers to the viewlog to check the number of times of viewing the data.
 5. The informationprocessing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the calculating unitchanges the calculation criteria for the importance of the data based onany one of authorization to view the data and authorization to print thedata or both.
 6. The information processing apparatus according to claim1, wherein the calculating unit calculates importance with respect toeach print page of the data.
 7. The information processing apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the data includes document data, imagedata, and document data containing an image.
 8. The informationprocessing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the calculationcriteria includes a calculation based on a viewing time of a documentstored in the view log multiplied by an importance constant, the dataincludes a setting of print authorization which indicates whether or notthe data is available for viewing but not for printing, and when thedata is not available for printing, the importance constant isincreased.
 9. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1,wherein the data includes a setting of viewing authorization whichindicates whether or not data is accessible only to authorized users,and when the data is restricted to authorized users, an importanceobtained from the view logs is adjusted according to the number of usersallowed to view the data.
 10. The information processing apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the view log includes information ofindividual pages of the data that are viewed, the print log includesinformation of individual pages of the data that are printed, animportance of the data is calculated for each page of the data based onthe view log and the print log, and the search result data includes anindication of a page having the highest importance.
 11. An informationprocessing method, implemented on an information processing apparatus,comprising: referring, at the information processing apparatus, to aprint log of data printed to check a number of times of printing thedata; referring, at the information processing apparatus, to a view logof the data to check a time when the data was last updated or generated;calculating, at the information processing apparatus, an importance ofthe data based on calculation criteria including the number of times ofprinting the data and an elapsed time since the data was last updated orgenerated; storing, at the information processing apparatus, theimportance of the data; and searching, at the information processingapparatus, for data satisfying a search condition input by a user andsorting a plurality of search-result data obtained by the search basedon the search condition input by the user and the importance of the datafor each of the search-result data that is stored, wherein each of thesearch-result data is assigned with a sort value and the plurality ofsearch-result data is sorted based on an order of the sort values, andthe method further comprises adjusting the sort values for thesearch-result data based on the importance of the data that is storedand the search condition input by the user, and sorting thesearch-result data based on the adjusted sort values, wherein the printlog includes a print option setting specified for printing, the printoption setting is assigned a print option importance value, and thecalculating includes calculating the importance of the data using theprint option importance value as part of the calculation criteria.
 12. Anon-transitory computer readable storage medium encoded with computerexecutable instructions, which when executed by a computer, cause thecomputer to perform a method comprising: referring to a print log ofdata printed to check a number of times of printing the data; referringto a view log of the data to check a time when the data was last updatedor generated; calculating an importance of the data based on calculationcriteria including the number of times of printing the data and anelapsed time since the data was last updated or generated; storing theimportance of the data; and searching for data satisfying a searchcondition input by a user and sorting a plurality of search-result dataobtained by the search based on the search condition input by the userand the importance of the data for each of the search-result data thatis stored, wherein each of the search-result data is assigned with asort value and the plurality of search-result data is sorted based on anorder of the sort values, and the method further comprises adjusting thesort values for the search-result data based on the importance of thedata that is stored and the search condition input by the user, andsorting the search-result data based on the adjusted sort values,wherein the print log includes a print option setting specified forprinting, the print option setting is assigned a print option importancevalue, and the calculating includes calculating the importance of thedata using the print option importance value as part of the calculationcriteria.